Typically, protective devices are provided to use in the electricity transmission system for disconnecting a circuit upon detection of a fault condition, e.g., lightning, to prevent power distribution equipments from being damaged. One of such protective devices is known as a cutout, which functions to disconnect a circuit when current in the circuit exceeds a threshold level.
Cutouts normally include a fuse element electrically coupled with its top contact assembly and bottom contact assembly. The fuse element will be melted when current is large enough. The top and bottom contact assemblies of the prior art cutout usually have a plurality of contact elements or current paths, and thus the reliability and conductivity of the top and bottom contact assemblies may be restrained. Therefore, there is a need in the art to come up with a cutout for improving the reliability and conductivity.